GECKOS END EAGLES FLAWLESS RECORD

By Asha Marie Robles

It was a momentous night for the George Washington Geckos as they took out the previous undefeated Harvest Eagles 3-0 Saturday night at the Geckos home field in Mangilao to end the IIAAG regular season.

Head coach for the Geckos Vince Naputi stated, “This moment was the fruits of our labor.” He also stressed that with constant training and practicing they were able to pull off the win and emphasizes how proud he was of his team as it took every single player to keep control of the game from start to finish.

The Geckos started the match off with great control as they held possession of the ball throughout the entire first half. However, the first goal of the game didn’t come until the 30th minute when freshman Xavier Naputi tapped the ball into the net off of a cross from team captain Raymond Mesias.

“It was a great feeling scoring the first goal. I think it really boosted our team’s morale. From there we just continued to put the pressure on and never gave up,” said Xavier Naputi.

(photo by Asha Robles)

After being scored on, the Eagles stepped up their game with whatever little time was remaining in the first half as Sean Evans came close to scoring for his team. Yet, with a strong Gecko defense, Evans chances diminished when the ball was taken away. As time ran out, the Geckos would lead 1-0 at halftime.

The second half started in favor of the Geckos as Hezekiah Cruz received a pass, trapped the ball, and made a hard low shot that found its way into the net in the 46th minute.

Though the Geckos were in the lead 2-0, the Eagles started to control the second half as their ball possession improved and had more shots on goal than the first half. Not only did their offense improve, the Eagles defense put up a battle as the Geckos couldn’t find the back of the net until the end of the match when Ryan Quitugua banked in his penalty kick after a foul happened inside the box. Quitugua’s goal would be the last and leave the Geckos with a 3-0 win over the Eagles.

Geckos head coach Naputi praised the Eagles for a game well played and knew the only way that his team could overcome Harvest was to prepare his boys mentally and physically. “Harvest has some really great players that are also on the nationals team, so knowing how they played gave us some insight on what to prepare ourselves for. We played to our strengths and we were able to capitalize on equalizing the pressure and we actually had good possession on the ball. That was something that was a little different from the start of the season until now.”

(photo by Asha Robles)